Name: A Refreshing Drink
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons broken ice; 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup; 3 tablespoons whipped cream; ½ cup milk; ⅓ cup soda or Apolinaris water; 1 tablespoon vanilla ice cream (optional)

Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

A Refreshing Drink

Ingredients

2 tablespoons broken ice
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
3 tablespoons whipped cream
½ cup milk
⅓ cup soda or Apolinaris water
1 tablespoon vanilla ice cream (optional)

Directions

Combine the broken ice, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, milk, and soda water in a tumbler and stir well before drinking.
For a variation, shake the syrup, milk, and ice together well.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,187 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,020 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,466 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Syrup + creamtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,964 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Syrup + vanillatop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,855 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chocolate syrup: Provides the chocolate flavour and sweetness that define the drink.
Milk: Adds liquid body and creaminess to the drink.
Whipped cream: Adds richness and a light, creamy texture.
Soda water: Adds carbonation, giving the drink its fizz and lightness.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.